Bridging the Mental Healthcare Gap: The Inspiring Journey of Jennifer Mullan & Ashlee Wisdom

Discover how Dr. Jennifer Mullan and Ashlee Wisdom are transforming healthcare through Decolonizing Therapy and Health In Her HUE. Their groundbreaking work is bridging gaps, promoting culturally competent care, and empowering marginalized communities with inclusive mental and physical health resources.

“Decolonizing therapy is about pulling up the mental health industrial complex at its roots... investigating what works, who it works for, and how this shows up in me.” 

According to The Office of Minority Health (OMH): Black Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with chronic diseases, have less access to quality healthcare, and receive lower quality care. This is due to a complex interplay of factors, including systemic racism, poverty, and lack of insurance.

Healthcare keeps evolving with technological advancement because there is a need for people to access the best healthcare available to them. Sadly, that is not the case with marginalized communities. Two visionary black women in tech, Dr. Jennifer Mullan and Ashlee Wisdom have pioneered an initiative to address** healthcare inequalities** black people face every day. They have created a platform to redefine mental and physical health accessibility to make it inclusive and culturally favorable. 

Dr. Jennifer Mullan: Decolonizing Mental Health

Popularly known as “The Rage Doctor”, Dr. Jennifer Mullan is a certified clinical psychologist and also doubles as a wound worker. To cap it all, she's the founder of the platform Decolonizing Therapy. 

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As a psychologist, she focused on changing and improving the oppressive chain of mental healthcare, especially for marginalized communities i.e. black neighborhoods. She actively fights against oppressive healthcare and advocates for ending systemic inequalities.

 

Dr. Jennifer Mullan began Decolonizing Therapy when she became a Clinician. Through years of experience, She noticed that traditional mental healthcare ignores patients' cultural and historical backgrounds.

But most importantly, she noticed that this was happening with only patients in marginalized communities. 

With this realization, she started advocating for better health care for men and women of color. 

She believes that a patient can only truly heal when health practitioners connect with the patient, their ancestral practices, and intergenerational trauma. 

Through her platform Decolonizing Therapy, she sets up workshops, mental health courses and even retreats all geared towards educating society and health practitioners the best way to unlearn oppressive methods of therapy. She encourages indigenous methods for treatment and healing which she believes will lead to an improved sense of community and collective healthcare. 

After publishing her book Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma & Politicizing Your Practice which gained widespread recognition in the mental health field,she started getting noticed. Since then she has been featured on global platforms and Media handles such as Forbes, The Guardian and Psychology today. 

How Ashlee Wisdom is Revolutionizing Healthcare  for Black Women.

Ashlee Wisdom, the founder and CEO of Health In Her HUE, is a** public health activist **who has dedicated most of her life's work to advocating for racial health inequality. She uses her platform to connect women of color to culturally responsive healthcare workers, and proper healthcare through familiar communities, this goes a long way to enhance rehabilitation.

Her key mission is to equip black women with the right knowledge and resources about the importance of their mental health and how they can navigate the chain of biased medical practices.

Ashlee Wisdom’s inspiration for Health in her Hue was born from her experiences in the health care sector. As a worker in an academic medical center, she said that she witnessed** racial biases** on a daily occurrence and it affected her deeply. It was then she became convinced that she had to do something about the situation in her own way. 

As a public health worker, she knew that whatever solution she was going to put up had to align with her academic background in public health which will also in turn address very specific challenges in health care delivery to Black women and women of color to get quality health care. 

One time while speaking on the impact of HIHH, she said 

 “We would bring health information to Black women where they were already scrolling through for content, and it resonated with them. Women would share with us that our content inspired them to schedule doctor visits, advocate for themselves at appointments, and consider how their work environments impacted their health.” 

Health In Her HUE offers a comprehensive provider directory, educational resources, and community forums where women can share experiences and support each other. By leveraging technology, the platform aims to make healthcare more accessible and tailored to the needs of its users.

To further expand its impact, HIHH guarantees comprehensive healthcare directories, informational resources and education contents under specific community forums for women of color to share their own experiences and even offer support for each other. 

Ashlee Wisdom used the leverage of technology to enhance Health in her Hue and make it available to a larger percentage of people and tailored to individual needs. 

Aside from technological incorporation, Ashlee Wisdom's Health in her Hue has partnered with the best medical institutions and public health organizations to expand her reach, ensure quality delivery and efficiency. 

Interestingly, to improve the chain of oppressive healthcare she has also partnered with research initiatives who document healthcare experiences of black women through data collection and data driven insights.  

A Shared Vision for Inclusive Healthcare

Dr. Jennifer Mullan and Ashlee Wisdom are both driven by the passion to dismantle the oppressive chain of racial health care provision for women of color. Through their work, it is evident that Health care has to be culturally favorable in order to enhance historical and intergenerational traumas for proper healing and rehabilitation. 

Dr. Jennifer Mullan’s approach involves educating therapists and mental health practitioners on the importance of understanding clients' cultural backgrounds and the systemic factors influencing their mental health. She advocates for a shift from traditional, Eurocentric therapeutic models to practices that honor and incorporate ancestral wisdom and collective healing. 

On the other hand, while there's a sharp contrast, Ashlee Wisdom's Health in her Hue focuses on empowering people with the right knowledge and telling them they can use it to take control of their mental health through informed decisions. 

Interestingly, Health in her Hue is not only a platform to connect women of color to professional health care providers, it gives these women the opportunity of building a community where they can share their stories without the fear of being judged while learning from each other. It gives them the assurance that they are not alone in what they're going through. 

In a group discussion, when she was asked about the future of healthcare for women of color, Ashlee Wisdom explained**:** “The future of healthcare for Black women and women of color... is inclusive, equitable, and accessible. It involves breaking down systemic barriers, increasing awareness, and ensuring that Black women and women of color have easy access to comprehensive care and products that prioritize their specific health needs.” 

Impact and Recognition

Today, wherever mental healthcare for women of color is mentioned, Dr. Jennifer Mullan and Ashlee Wisdom's contributions will not go unmentioned. 

For Dr. Jennifer Mullan, her book Decolonizing Therapy has gotten a lot of attention and recognition. It has been featured in media outlets and she received the ESSENCE magazine's 2020 Essential Hero Award under the Mental Health category. 

Ashlee Wisdom's Health in her Hue has gained partnership, awards and nominations. She has made an impact in mental health and she has been praised for it as her impact is felt through collaborations with major platforms like Honey Pot Co who have not only amplified her mission of providing health care through culturally sensitive approaches. 

They're both making waves individually in the category of influential voices in mental health care. While Dr. Jennifer  Mullan speaks on major global Platforms in mental health conferences, Ashlee Wisdom has featured in major magazines like the Fast company and The New York Times as an influential black woman in health tech 

Looking Ahead

Dr. Jennifer Mullan and Ashlee Wisdom are a beacon of hope, resilience, and the power of Black women in leadership together with the passion for addressing systemic inequities. They remind us that health care service delivery can be inclusive and equitable for all.

Their vision for the future is ambitious and inspiring. In the next 5-10 years, they aim to expand their reach and develop educational programs and platforms that empower women of color with the knowledge and resources to protect their mental health.  Ashlee Wisdom hopes to enhance the features of HIHH, making it a truly personalized and interactive platform that bridges the gap between Black women and quality health care services.  

Together, they are building a future where mental health care is accessible, inclusive, and empowering for all.

For more information  visit:

Decolonizing Therapy  

Health in her Hue